Paper trimmer

ABSTRACT

In a trimming board, a rectangular platform having a plane top face and a vertically-disposed metal cutting edge along one side thereof, a cutting knife pivoted to the platform near one end of the cutting edge, a straight edge abutment running along one side of the platform at right angles to the cutting edge, a slot in the plane top face of the platform extending in a direction away from the cutting edge, a guide assembly slidably disposed in the slot in the platform and having a stop portion facing the cutting edge against which one edge of a paper sheet may extend, a releasable lock for locking the guide means within the slot, a finger guard overlying the cutting edge and a releasable lock for releasably locking one end of the finger guard relative to the platform.

United States Patent Pottern Feb. 19, 1974 PAPER TRIMMER Primary Examiner-J. M. Meister {75} Inventor: Alvin R. Pottern, Longmeadow, Attorney Agent or MrmROSS ROSS & Flavm Mass. :57} ABSTRACT [73] Asslgnee: Bradley Company East in a trimming board, a rectangular platform having a Longmeadow Mass plane top face and a vertically-disposed metal cutting [22] Filed: Dec. 5, 1972 edge along one side thereof, a cutting knife pivoted to the platform near one end of the cutting edge, a [21] Appl. No.: 312,319 straight edge abutment running along one side of the platform at right angles to the cutting edge, a slot in {521 U.S. CL. 83/468, 83/546, 83/607 the plane p face of the platform extending in a [5l] Int. Cl B26d 7/16, B26d 7/22 feCtiOH way fr m the cutting edge, a guide assembly [53] i l of Search 33 4 3, 07, 0 09 544, slidably disposed in the slot in the platform and having {33/545 546 a stop portion facing the cutting edge against which one edge of a paper sheet may extend, a releasable [56] References Cit d lock for locking the guide means within the slot, a fin UNITED STATES PATENTS ger guard overlying the cutting edge and a releasable 2,254,374 9 1941 Laukhuff 83/607 x g rfig g fi one end of the finger guard 3,089,373 5/l963 Fischer et al. 83/607 X 6 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PAIENIEU 3.792536 sum 1 0r 2 FIG. I.

PAIENEEM EJSZpSSS SHEET 2 BF 2 PAPER TRIMMER The present invention relates generally to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in trimming and cutting apparatus and is essentially designed and adapted for embodiment in a hand-operated type of cutter having a stationary blade and a movable blade cooperating therewith for the shearing and trimming of sheets placed therebetween.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a novel finger guide for protecting the fingers of an operator.

Another object is to provide a guide assembly slidably disposed relative to the platform of the cutter and against which an edge of the paper to be cut may be butted, along with releasable locking means for locking the guide assembly in desired positions of adjustment.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of trimming apparatus embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view as seen from the right of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 2 with the cutting blade raised;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view as seen from the left of FIG. I with the cutting blade raised;

FIG. 4A is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view similar to FIG. 4, with the releasable lock moved to concealed position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary bottom plan view of the paper guide assembly;

FIG. 5A is a side elevational view of the paper guide assembly of FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view similar to FIG. 5 of the paper guide assembly with portions removed for clar' lty;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, broken side elevational view of the finger guard;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the finger guard lock; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the finger guard lock.

Referring now to the drawings more in detail, I have shown a platform work surface 2 which is preferentially formed from plastic, although steel, aluminum, wood or equally light-weight material may be substituted therefor.

Preferentially, bumpers such as 4 are fixed to the lowermost face of platform 2.

The top planar surface of the platform 2 may be delineated into suitable unit squares by means of series of spaced graduation lines 6 arranged at right angles to each other. The graduation lines of each series may be spaced a certain predetermined distance apart, as for example one inch, and function for properly aligning the material to be trimmed during the cutting operation.

A horizontally-disposed stationary cutting blade 8 is fixed within a recess or inset along one edge of the upper planar surface of the platform 2, in manner to partly overlap the same. The stationary cutting blade is provided with an outermost, elongated, verticallydisposed cutting edge which is disposed slightly beyond the vertical plane of the adjacent side edge of the platform 2 and is adapted to cooperate with a movable cutting blade to produce a shearing action.

A housing it) is formed along the back edge of th platform adjacent the fixed blade and functions as journal.

A horizontally-disposed pivot shaft, not shown, i mounted within a suitable aperture extending throug said housing in manner as to be rotatable relativ thereto. That is, the housing serves as a bearing lug fo the rotative motion of the pivot shaft relative to th housing and platform.

One end of the pivot shaft is fixed to a carrier 12 That is to say, the carrier carries a generally right angu lar pivot shaft which is pivoted in the housing so tha the carrier is pivotally mounted in one corner of th platform.

A vertically-disposed movable cutting blade 14 is re movably secured to the carrier 12 and has a lowermos horizontally disposed longitudinal cutting edge for co operating with the cutting edge of the horizontally disposed stationary cutting blade 8.

Thus, as is known, the movable cutting blade 1 works in a vertical plane in conjunction with the fixet or stationary cutting blade 8 at the edge of the platforn 2 to produce a shearing cut and to remove such portior of a work sheet or sheets as is or are placed upon the platform to project beyond the cutting edge of the fixer blade.

A combination torsion-compression spring, no shown, is disposed within housing It), the spring serving two functions, namely, it exerts an inward pull on the carrier which in turn exerts pressure on the movable cutting knife which is necessary to insure intimate contact between the fixed and movable cutting blades and it acts as a counter-balance to maintain the carriei in fixed open position.

The opposite end of the carrier 12 provides a handengaging end or handle 16 and may be slightly angularly disposed relative to the longitudinal axis of the shank thereof, as shown in FIG. 1, so as to facilitate the gripping thereof and to facilitate the swinging of the carrier up and down relative to the housing and platform.

A straight edge abutment 18, which is preferably formed as an integral part of platform 2, projects above the plane upper surface of the platform 2 along one edge of the platform at right angles to the cutting edge of the stationary cutting blade to form an abutment against which an edge of the paper may rest.

Said abutment 18 may carry indicia 20 such as a graduated scale to facilitate the making of fractional adjustments, the inner edge of said abutment functioning as a guide for the edges of sheets being trimmed. The indicia 20 may be graduated scale sections and may be graduations in inches or in metric equivalents thereof so as to be representative of distances from the cutting edge of the stationary blade.

A releasable lock 22 pivoted to carrier 12 is engageable with a latch plate 24 on platform 2 whereby the carrier may be secured in locked position relative to the platform. When lock 22 is released, the carrier may be swung upwardly to the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, while the lock may be rotated counterclockwise to a concealed position between cutting blade 14 and carrier 12 as shown in FIG. 4A.

An elongated finger guard generally indicated by 26, preferably formed from clear transparent plastic so that the platform and stationary cutting blade are clearly visible, is disposed above and in spaced parallel relation to a vertical edge of the platform above the stationary cutting blade. The finger guard is fixed at one end, as by a bolt 28 to abutment l8 and housing 10 and is releasably secured at its opposite end, as by releasable locking means generally indicated by 30, to platform 2.

The finger guard has a somewhat inverted L shape, and includes a sloping wall 32 which extends angularly upwardly and inwardly from the cutting edge of stationary blade 8 and merges with an overhanging horizontal wall 34 disposed in spaced parallel relation to the platform. The sloping wall 32 permits the fingers of the user to be brought without danger into close adjacency to the cutting edge of the stationary blade, thereby to exert a firm pressure on the paper to be trimmed, and the overhanging horizontal wall 34 precludes accidental contact with the movable cutting blade should the fingers slip.

An inwardly extending bottom wall 36 provided at one end of the finger guard permits its attachment to abutment 18 by means of a bolt 28.

Locking means 30 is releasably associated with platform 2 so that the finger guard may be raised if desired, the plastic material from which the finger guard is formed being sufficiently resilient to permit it to bend at its inner end relative to bolt 28 so that it may be moved upwardly away from the platform.

Locking means 30 includes an upright housing 38 having a vertically-disposed through-bore 40 therein, the through-bore being enlarged at its upper end at 42 and at its lower end at 44, for purposes to appear.

A locking pin has a shaft 46 slidably receivable in through-bore 40, the locking pin having a head 48 at its upper end and a foot 50 at its lower end.

A spring 52 sleeved on shaft 46 is fixed at its lower end to housing 38 adjacent enlarged portion 42 and is fixed at its upper end to head 48.

FIG. 7 shows locking means 30 in unlocked position, while FIGS. 8 and 9 show it in locked position.

When in unlocked position, the upper end of the locking pin extends outwardly from housing 38, with head 48 thereof being disposed above the plane of the finger guard and with foot 50 thereof being disposed within the housing and engaged with the wall defined by lower enlargement 44.

In locked position, the head is in contact with the finger guard, spring 52 is compressed within upper enlargement 42 and foot 50 is disposed below the plane of the lower end of housing 38, being receivable in an opening 54 provided in an extension 56 on the platform, and bearing against the lower surface of an extension 58 on latch plate 24 which partially spans opening 54.

To release the locking pin, head 48 is twisted to swing Foot 50 clear of extension 58 whereupon the locking Jin is urged upwardly by spring 52 within housing 38 mtil foot 50 abuts the upper wall of lower enlargement 14, at which time the finger guard may be swung upvardly away from the platform.

A primary advantage of my invention flows from the guide assembly, generally indicated by 60, and now to )e described.

If paper is to be trimmed to various sizes, that is to a if there is not a relatively large number of one size )aper to be cut, the entire guide assembly may be easily 'emoved. If however, several sheets are to be cut to the ame size, the guide is set to that size and, the extending :nds of the stop member being contiguous to the scale,

the guide may be very accurately positioned and locked against the top face of the platform so that there is no possibility of the paper slipping under the stop at any point.

The guide assembly is somewhat T-shaped in plan and comprises a body portion 62 having a stop member 64 disposed normal thereto and extending outwardly from its side edges, the stop member having an upright face forming a stop surface 66 with a blade-like protrusion 68 extending outwardly therefrom along its lower edge.

Paper is butted against the stop surface 66 and is precluded from shifting under the guide by blade-like protrusion 68.

A pair of axially-aligned spaced legs 70 and 72 depends from the lower surfaces of protrusion 68 and body portion 62, respectively, the legs being slidably receivable in a slot 74 provided in the upper surface of platform 2 and disposed normal to stationary cutting blade 8.

Releasable locking means is provided for locking the guide assembly against movement relative to the platform and includes a slidable wedge 76 depending from a small housing 78 on the lower surface of body portion 62, the wedge being movable into and out of axial alignment with a leg 80 which depends from a cover 78 of housing 78, the leg 80 itself being aligned with the legs 70 and 72 depending from the protrusion and body portion respectively.

As best seen in FIG. 6, movement of wedge 76 is effected by rotation of a finger lever 82 having a vertically disposed central semi-circular shaft 84, pivotally mounted in body portion 62 and extending into small housing 78 for contact with a base 86 on which the wedge is mounted, the base being spring-loaded by means of a compression spring 88.

When finger lever 82 is in the position shown in the drawings, the guide means is locked, since wedge 76 is not aligned with leg 80, wherefore it jams against the side wall of slot 74 in platform 2.

However, when the finger lever is swung either to the right or left as viewed in the drawings, shaft 84 pivots relative to an abutment member disposed within housing 78 wherefore base 86 and wedge 76 are urged forwardly against the action of spring 88 to bring the wedge into alignment with leg 80 whereupon the guide assembly may be slid freely relative to slot 74 in the platform.

When the finger lever is returned to a central position wherein the flat face of shaft 84 is resting flush against abutment member 90, the spring 88 moves wedge 76 rearwardly and out of alignment with leg 80 to lock the guide means relative to slot 74.

I claim:

1. In a trimming board, a rectangular platform having a plane top face and a vertically-disposed metal cutting edge along one side thereof, a cutting knife pivoted to the platform near one end of the cutting edge, a straight edge abutment running along one side of the platform at right angles to the cutting edge, a slot in the plane top face of the platform extending in a direction away from the cutting edge, a guide assembly slidably disposed in the slot in the platform and having a stop portion facing the cutting edge against which one edge of a paper sheet may extend, a releasable lock for locking the guide means within the slot, a finger guard overlying the cutting edge and a releasable lock for releasably locking one end of the finger guard relative to the platform.

2. In a trimming board according to claim 1, wherein the finger guard comprises a sloping wall extending angularly upwardly from the cutting edge and merging at its upper end with an overhanging horizontal wall disposed in spaced parallelism to the platform.

3. In a trimming board according to claim 1, wherein the releasable lock for locking one end of the finger guard relative to the platform is a spring-loaded pin on the finger guard, the pin having a foot selectively engageable in an opening in the platform.

4. In a trimming board according to claim ll, wherein the releasable lock for locking the guide means comprises a spring-loaded wedge selectively movable into and out of axial alignment with a stationary member OI the guide means, the wedge and stationary membe being receivable in a slot in the platform.

5, In a trimming board according to claim 1, includ ing a blade-like protrusion extending outwardly fron the stop portion of the guide assembly for preventing the paper sheet from slipping under the stop portion.

6. In a trimming board according to claim 1, includ ing a carrier on which the cutting knife is mounted an( a releasable lock for securing the carrier to the plat form, the releasable lock being pivoted to the carrie: and rotatable between an exposed locking position ant a concealed non-locking position between the cutting blade and carrier. 

1. In a trimming board, a rectangular platform having a plane top face and a vertically-disposed metal cutting edge along one side thereof, a cutting knife pivoted to the platform near one end of the cutting edge, a straight edge abutment running along one side of the platform at right angles to the cutting edge, a slot in the plane top face of the platform extending in a direction away from the cutting edge, a guide assembly slidably disposed in the slot in the platform and having a stop portion facing the cutting edge against which one edge of a paper sheet may extend, a releasable lock for locking the guide means within the slot, a finger guard overlying the cutting edge and a releasable lock for releasably locking one end of the finger guard relative to the platform.
 2. In a trimming board according to claim 1, wherein the finger guard comprises a sloping wall extending angularly upwardly from the cutting edge and merging at its upper end with an overhanging horizontal wall disposed in spaced parallelism to the platform.
 3. In a trimming board according to claim 1, wherein the releasable lock for locking one end of the finger guard relative to the platform is a spring-loaded pin on the finger guard, the pin having a foot selectively engageable in an opening in the platform.
 4. In a trimming board according to claim 1, wherein the releasable lock for locking the guide means comprises a spring-loaded wedge selectively movable into and out of axial alignment with a stationary member on the guide means, the wedge and stationary member being receivable in a slot in the platform.
 5. In a trimming board according to claim 1, including a blade-like protrusion extending outwardly from the stop portion of the guide assembly for preventing the paper sheet from slipping under the stop portion.
 6. In a trimming board according to claim 1, including a carrier on which the cutting knife is mounted and a releasable lock for securing the carrier to the platform, the releasable lock being pivoted to the carrier and rotatable between an exposed locking position and a concealed non-locking position between the cutting blade and carrier. 